Decolonizing health, healing, and care:
Embodying culturally responsive and socially just counselling
By Sandra Collins and Melissa Jay (Editors)
Edition: 1st Edition
Published: June 1, 2025
Publisher: Counselling Concepts
DOI: https://doi.org/10.71446/ji62364753
ISBN: 978-0-9738085-6-8
Format: ePUB (with audios and videos)
Distributor: Vital Source
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Abstract
The book, Decolonizing Health, Healing, and Care: Embodying Culturally Responsive and Socially Just Counselling, responds to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada’s Calls to Action in meaningful and practical ways. The editors (Dr. Sandra Collins and Dr. Melissa Jay) work with co-authors to consider what the theory and practice of counselling and psychotherapy might look like when centring Indigenous worldviews. They apply the practice of Etuaptmumk or Two-Eyed Seeing to honour the pluralism of views of health and healing and to open new possibilities for relationally, ethically, and culturally responsive practice.
The over 75 collaborators speak from within their multiple and intersecting identities and relationalities to offer rich and diverse perspectives based on Indigeneity, ethnicity, ability, social class, age, gender, gender identity, religion or spirituality, and sexual orientation. They offer insights into how embracing and centring Indigenous and other commonly marginalized ways of knowing, being, and doing can transform our approach to health, healing, and care for all persons and all communities.
The co-authors expand the possibilities for health and healing through an ecological, systems lens that embraces change at the macro-, meso-, and microlevels. They invite consideration of our shared accountability and responsibility to address social determinants of health and to disrupting systems of oppression in service of advancing justice, accessibility, inclusion, diversity, and equity.
The book is intended to provide a foundation for all that we do in health, healing, and care by inviting continuous self-reflection and critical deconstruction of theory and practice. A framework for culturally responsive and socially just counselling provides an integrative thread through the book in the form of 8 Pathways and 18 Practices. Each of these is inspired, co-created, or amplified by the many beautiful and thoughtful contributions of each collaborator. The book integrates audio, video, and artistic elements in a digitally accessible platform designed to meet the needs of all learners.
Table of Contents
OPENING
Chapter 0.1 Our Starting Place
By Sandra Collins, Melissa Jay, and Elder Albert Marshall
Chapter 0.2 Applying a Decolonial Lens to CRSJ Counselling
By Sandra Collins, Melissa Jay, and Elder Albert Marshall
PATHWAY 1 CENTRING INDIGENOUS WORLDVIEWS
By Melissa Jay, Sandra Collins, Cheyenne Johns, and Jessie King Chapter
Chapter 1.1 Practice 1 Positionality: Leaning into Difficult Conversations
By Jessie King
Chapter 1.2 Reflections on Our Positionalities
By Sandra Collins and Melissa Jay
Chapter 1.3 Practice 2 Decolonization: Centring Indigenization
By Sandra Collins, Melissa Jay, Gwendolyn Villebrun, and Randy White
Chapter 1.4 Practice 3 Etuaptmumk: Embracing Two-Eyed Seeing
By Melissa Jay, Sandra Collins, Albert Marshall, Darlene Denis-Friske, Fyre Jean Graveline, and Mahdi Qasqas
Chapter 1.5 Journeying Together aRound Sacred Medicine Wheel
By Fyre Jean Graveline
PATHWAY 2 AWAKENING CRITICAL CONSCIOUSNESS
By Sandra Collins, Melissa Jay, Janelle Baker, and Robin Stevenson
Chapter 2.1 Dismantling Harmful Legacies of Counsellor Education in Canada: A New Era of Lionhearted Practices
By Gina Wong, Sherani Sivakumar, Ya Xi (Nancy) Lei, and Yevgen Yasynskyy
Chapter 2.2 Practice 4 Relationality: Unlearning Disconnection
By Gina Wong, Sherani Sivakumar, Ya Xi (Nancy) Lei, and Yevgen Yasynskyy
Chapter 2.3 Travelling on the River in Two Canoes: Building Trust with the Indigenous Peoples of Denendeh
By Danielle McPhail
Chapter 2.4 Practice 5 Health Equity: Accepting Relational Accountability
By Sandra Collins, Melissa Jay, Janelle Baker, Marie-Odile Magnan, Stephanie Martin, Helen Ofosu, Fatima Saleem, and Carolyn Shaw
Chapter 2.5 East Door Lived Response.Abilities: Walking Our Talk
By Fyre Jean Graveline
PATHWAY 3 FOSTERING CULTURAL SAFETY
By Melissa Jay, Sandra Collins, Jessie King, Amy Rubin, and Nubia Chong
Chapter 3.1 Spirit Comes First: Language, nôhkomak, and Kinship
By Lana Whiskeyjack
Chapter 3.2 Practice 6 Cultural Humility: Looking Inward
By Sandra Collins, Melissa Jay, Jessie King, Gurmukh Aujla, Lisa Gunderson, Taya Henriques, and Gina Wong
Chapter 3.3 Storying the Lives of the Working Class: The Forgotten Majority
By Fisher Lavell
Chapter 3.4 Practice 7 Ethical Space: Walking Alongside
By Sandra Collins, Melissa Jay, Jessie King, Lisa Gunderson, and Gina Wong
Chapter 3.5 Barriers Can Be Stepladders: Practice Considerations for the Minoritized Counsellor
By Mateo Huezo
Chapter 3.6 Practice 8 Respect for Dignity: Honouring Rights Through Responsible Care
By Cristelle Audet, Sandra Collins, Melissa Jay, Zuraida Dada, and Kirby Huminuik
Chapter 3.7 South Door Response.Abilities: Revitalizing Indigenous Spiritualities
By Fyre Jean Graveline
PATHWAY 4 STRENGTHENING CULTURAL EMPOWERMENT
By Melissa Jay, Jessie King, and Sandra Collins
Chapter 4.1 Trauma-Informed Yoga Psychology: Theory and Practice
By Melissa Jay, Michael Yudcovitch, Swaati Mehra-Ramcharan, sakâw laboucan, Nicole Lightning-Strongman, and Kitana Connelly
Chapter 4.2 Practice 9 Trauma-Informed Care: Centring Choice and Connection
By Melissa Jay, Sandra Collins, Gwendolyn Villebrun, Joanna Gladues, Judy Chew, Zuraida Dada, Helen Ofosu, Ruth Strunz, Aaron Wong, and Gina Wong
Chapter 4.3 Intergenerational Trauma Within the Punjabi-Sikh Diaspora: Navigating Culturally Responsive Healing, Resiliency, and Communication
By Pavna Kaur Sodhi and Surinder Singh Sodhi
Chapter 4.4 Practice 10 Compassion-Informed Care: Listening for Stories of Joy
By Jessie King, Sandra Collins, Melissa Jay, Judy Chew, Zuraida Dada, Lisa Gunderson, Kirby Huminuik, Fatima Saleem, and Gina Wong
Chapter 4.5 Negotiating Multiple, Intersecting, Marginalized Identities: Angéline et Marie Against the World
By Sandra Collins
PATHWAY 5 RELATING WITH RECIPROCITY
By Sandra Collins, Melissa Jay, Albert Marshall, and Andrea Currie
Chapter 5.1 Love in the Midst of Apocalyptic Loss
By Andrea Currie
Chapter 5.2 Practice 11 Affirmative Care: Leading with Love
By Sandra Collins, Melissa Jay, Judy Chew, and Ruth Strunz
Chapter 5.3 Fostering Critical Empathy in Professional Psychology Education: Honouring Indigenous Experiences and Relational Ways of Being
By Stephanie Day and Allison Reeves
Chapter 5.4 Practice 12 Anti-Oppressive Care: Celebrating Diversity
By Sandra Collins, Kim Asbourne, Melissa Jay, Judy Chew, and Allison Reeves
Chapter 5.5 A Decolonizing, Relational Approach to Navigating Institutionalized Ageism in a Single Session
By Cristelle Audet
Chapter 5.6 West Door Response.Abilities: Respectfully and Reciprocally Relating
By Fyre Jean Graveline
PATHWAY 6 EMBRACING WISE PRACTICES
By Darlene Denis-Friske, Sandra Collins, and Melissa Jay
Chapter 6.1 A Wise Practices Concept in Counselling From Within an Indigenous Perspective
By Darlene Denis-Friske
Chapter 6.2 Practice 13 Wholistic Care: Expanding Perspectives
By Melissa Jay, Sandra Collins, Kitana Connelly, Gurmukh Aujla, Judi Malone, Stephanie Martin, and Fatima Saleem
Chapter 6.3 Infusing the Africentric Framework in Mental Health Care for Black Canadians
By Sandra Dixon, Noreen Sibanda, Miriam Sekandi, and Bukola Salami
Chapter 6.4 Practice 14 Relational Responsivity: Centring Client Worldviews
By Sandra Collins, Melissa Jay, Ivana Djuraskovic, and Don Zeman
By Darlene Denis-Friske
PATHWAY 7 CO-CREATING MESO–MACROLEVEL CHANGE
By Melissa Jay, Sandra Collins, and Jane Arscott
Chapter 7.1 Practice 15 Justice-Seeking: Advocating Structural–Societal Change
By Melissa Jay, Sandra Collins, Jane Arscott, Janelle Baker, Zuraida Dada, Gina Ko, and Kaltrina Kusari
Chapter 7.2 Bearing Witness Internationally: Trauma and Healing in the Face of Human Rights Violations and Natural Disasters
By Adrienne Carter
Chapter 7.3 North Door Response.Abilities: Inspiring and Reweavng Ecological Reconnections
By Fyre Jean Graveline
Chapter 7.4 Practice 16 Justice-Doing: Facilitating Institutional–Organizational Change
By Sandra Collins, Melissa Jay, Jane Arscott, Kitana Connelly, Lisa Gunderson, Kirby Huminuik, Jo Anni Joncas, Gina Ko, Kaltrina Kusari, Annie Pilote, and Sonya Sehgal
Chapter 7.5 Re-Visioning Counsellor Education: Centring Justice, Accessibility, Inclusion, Diversity, and Equity
By Sandra Collins, Melissa Jay, Jane Arscott, Kitana Connelly, Lisa Gunderson, Kirby Huminuik, Jo Anni Joncas, Gina Ko, Kaltrina Kusari, Annie Pilote, and Sonya Sehga
Chapter 7.6 Disrupting Coloniality in Clinical Supervision
By Jeff Chang, Joaquín Gaete Silva, and Inés Sametband
Chapter 7.7 I Want To Live My Ordinary Life: Young Adults With Complex Medical Conditions
By Karen Cook
PATHWAY 8 CO-CREATING MICROLEVEL CHANGE
By Melissa Jay, Sandra Collins, and Kaltrina Kusari
Chapter 8.1 Practice 17 Presence: A Self-Reflective Way of Being
By Melissa Jay, Sandra Collins, Gwendolyn Villebrun, Kitana Connelly, Gurmukh Aujla, and Alexandra Zúñiga
Chapter 8.2 Narrative Documents, Testimonios, and Queer Pláticas: Practicing Cultural Humility
By Ricardo Avelar
Chapter 8.3 The Qabool-Alliance Model: A Signature Tool for the Sunnah-Based Practice Framework
By Mahdi Qasqas, Ayesha Notiar, and Ahmad Eltassi
Chapter 8.4 Practice 18 Pluralism: Collaborating in Health, Healing, and Care
By Sandra Collins, Melissa Jay, Darlene Auger, Jason Brown, Judy Chew, Andrew Estefan, Charlotte Finnigan, Ya Xi (Nancy) Lei, Marguerite Lengyell, and Mahdi Qasqas
Chapter 8.5 Counselling Considerations for Working with Indigenous Peoples
By Gwendolyn Villebrun and Melissa Jay
Chapter 8.6 A Chinese Mother’s Journey to Self: From 冇用 (Moh-Yong) to 有价值 (Yow Ga Zhick)
By Gina Wong
CLOSING
Chapter 9.1 Staying Open to the Unknown
By Melissa Jay and Sandra Collins
Citation
Collins, S. & Jay, M. (Eds.), Decolonizing health, healing, and care: Embodying culturally responsive and socially just counselling. Counselling Concepts. https://doi.org/10.71446/ji62364753